Looking for a case
by Neyane
Summary: What does a code that's supposed to lead to a haunted house which turned out to be a building mean? Maybe nothing, and yet Conan is sure it has to do something with the murder that occured at this same place, a murder which isn't what it looks like at first sight...
1. Chapter 1 : A puzzling code

Disclaimer : Detective Conan belongs to Gosho Aoyama.

Hello _minna-san_ (everyone)!

I'd like to say a few words before letting you read this fanfiction. First, I'm not a native english speaker, so I'm sure there's loads of mistakes in there. I'll be pleased to hear your advice, and if you point out my mistakes, I'll correct them, but please be lenient and nice.

The other thing I wanna tell you is that it's also the first fanfiction I ever wrote in English. It's been some time since I first said I wanted to write one in English, and I finally did it (well, it's just the first chapter, but it's already a beginning). Maybe it's not very interesting for now, the chapter is kind of short 'cause it's the first, and maybe the way I write isn't very good, but be patient and don't hesitate to let reviews please! :)

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><p><strong>Chapter 1 :<strong>** A Puzzling Code**

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><p>"Well, this is the spot."<p>

"Eh? Are you sure there's not a mistake somewhere?"

The three kids looked at the sheet of paper in Mitsuhiko's hands and looked back at the high building in front of them. High, clean, and new-built.

"There's no way it's here; we're supposed to find a haunted house!" Genta exclaimed.

"I know, but if we decoded this code correctly, this is it," Mitsuhiko answered.

Ayumi turned towards Conan. "What do you think Conan-kun?"

The shrunken sleuth sighed and took the paper from Mitsuhiko's hands and read it again.

"It's odd, the code is pretty clear, this should lead us to an empty house. Maybe I misunderstood something... But we can also consider that the house has been destroyed to build this building."

"What a shame!" Ayumi said. "It seemed interesting!"

"Yeah, wasn't the code talking about some kind of treasure?" Genta asked excitedly.

"Not really. The code only talks about something that has been left in the house," Conan corrected.

"Oh... Well, then, it probably has been taken away or destroyed when they made this building," Mitsuhiko pointed out.

"You're right," Conan agreed. "Let's play soccer then!"

To be honest, Conan wasn't really keen on visiting that "haunted house" when the kids found the paper. After all, they had visited a lot of them lately, and there wasn't anything special or unusual inside, so he didn't want to lose another afternoon in a dark and dusty house. Moreover, the weather was really good, a clear sky was over their heads, weather that made him want to stay outside to enjoy it after a whole week of rain and cold.

They all headed back for the park of Beika, where all of this had begun, Conan resumed playing with the soccer ball he had with him. They went through some big avenues before finally ending up in some dark and narrow alleys. They were all discussing soccer since they had left, but the subject of the code came back.

"It's really a shame this code lead nowhere, it could have been interesting," Mitsuhiko said.

"Can't do nothin' 'bout it, right?" Genta answered. "We should have found this code before they destroyed the house."

"Right, so stop thinking about it," Conan added. "Whatever this person left, it's gone, and maybe it wasn't worth it."

"But what if... What if the person had buried it?" Ayumi exclaimed. "It could still be there then!"

"No way." Conan answered. "All the buildings have got foundations that go deep in the ground, so even if he had hidden something a meter deep, they destroyed it when they began the construction."

"But maybe he had buried it deeper!" Genta suggested.

"You know, a meter deep is already pretty deep if he did the hole by himself, especially since you can't use instruments to dig in a house, and a building's foundations are going a lot deeper than a meter."

"Well, maybe he used tools to dig if the house was already empty, couldn't he?" Mitsuhiko asked.

"D'you really think he would have the tools to make a hole deep enough to avoid being extracted if another building was built here? Anyway, what's wrong with you guys?" Conan stopped walking and asked the others, half surprised, half irritated. "We've been searching haunted houses since the beginning of the month, didn't you see enough?"

"But there wasn't anything interesting!" Genta argued.

"Furthermore, this code is intriguing, isn't it?" Mitsuhiko followed.

Conan sighed and looked at the code he had kept in his pocket.

"Yeah, well, we've just find it by chance, it was in the park where we were playing, but it doesn't mean it contains something interesting. Look, we thought it indicated a haunted house, and it turned out to be a new-built building, and there's probably nothing left of the house that was here before, so just forget it, okay? We can't ask the people in this building to destroy it because there's a very small chance that something's buried under it. We can't believe what's written there; there's no proof that the person who wrote it really hid anything in that house."

Conan looked up to see the others' disappointed faces.

"Come on, don't look at me like that, it's not my fault!" Conan defended. "We'll probably find another case soon!"

"I hope so," Ayumi said. "It's been a so long time since we hadn't solver something!"

"Yeah, she's right!" Genta added.

"We would just like to do something useful," Mitsuhiko finished.

"Well, you'll have to wait until we find something. It's useless to hold on to anything you see that might be a case," Conan said.

Genta grunted. "I don't want to wait, I'm bored of playing soccer and hide-and-seek. You're too good; you're winning each time. It's not fun!"

"What about going to the professor house?" Conan suggested. "Haibara didn't come with us, right? We could ask her why and play some video games."

"Yeah, you're right," Mitsuhiko agreed. "But didn't Haibara-san say why she didn't come with us?"

"No, I don't remember," Ayumi answered. "She just said she had to do something and won't come with us today."

"Then maybe we shouldn't go," Mitsuhiko suddenly said.

"But you were the first to say it was a good idea!" Genta pointed out.

"Yes, but maybe we're going to disturb her, or maybe she don't want us to come and see what she's doing..."

Mitsuhiko suddenly stopped seeing the mischievous smile on Genta's face.

"Do you think she's doing something bad?" he asked.

"No way! It's not like her!" Ayumi assured.

"Do you think she's hiding something?" Genta suggested. "After all, it's not the first time that she didn't want to come with us."

Conan rolled his eyes. He knew Ai sometimes didn't come with them because she wasn't in the mood to do so or because she wanted to work on the antidote. He didn't think she was doing anything really interesting, but the kids had invented a whole story now and wouldn't stop before they had see with their own eyes that the quiet scientist was doing nothing out of the ordinary. So he followed as they moved to the direction of the professor's house.

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><p>Conan yawned as he made his way towards the agency. The afternoon had ended up with all of them - including Ai - playing new video games. When they were before the screen, the excitement and their will to win made them very attentive, but now that it was over, it made Conan feel tired.<p>

He had talked a little with both Ai and the professor, both were fine and hadn't anything really new to tell him. The professor was working on new inventions and Ai was a little ill-at-ease lately, because of both Okiya Subaru's presence in Shinichi's house - even if she was becoming more and more used to him - and Sera's recent habit of lurking around, even if Conan kept telling her that it was her way back from school, especially when she was going on the way back with Ran and Sonoko.

Anyway, now, Conan only wanted to get home, eat and sleep. He was currently reading a book, but as he played a little soccer with the others before they had find the code, he didn't think he would read much that night.

Conan had barely walked into the agency and said "Tadaima" when he heard Kogoro talking in a serious tone to someone on the phone. Conan walked inside, curious to know what was happening.

"Yes keibu, I'm coming right now," Kogoro said before hanging up.

The sleeping sleuth went to take his coat while Conan approached his office to see what he had seen him write during the call. While making his way towards the office, he asked innocently.

"What's happening? Did you get a case ojisan?"

"Yes, Megure-keibu's asking my help on a murder case."

Kogoro said something else, but Conan didn't heard it. He had just seen the address written on the paper: the one of the building they had just visited this afternoon.

"I'm coming!"

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><p>I suppose most of you are familiar with the suffixes given in this fanfiction and the few Japanese words I used, but I'll give some short explanations just in case.<p>

So, "**keibu" **means "inspector." It can be used as a suffix or simply to say "inspector". For officers of a lower rank (like Sato or Takagi), I'll use "**keiji,"**which can also be used to refer to a police inspector.

**"Tadaima" **is something you say to your family when you get back home from work or school, and people usually answer "**okaeri**."

**"Ojisan" **is what Conan calls Kogoro, it means "uncle," but in Japan you can use it to talk to people around the age of Kogoro. ;)

This chapter has been beta-read by both Dagron and dreamingfifi, so thanks to both of them ^^


	2. Chapter 2 : An odd murder

Hi people ! I'm so sorry I didn't update sooner, but I was really busy, with other fanfics but not only. Moreover, writing in english isn't something easy for me, I have to get in « english mode » first by reading and listening english before so I can think and write in english more naturally. Something that didn't help me writing the next chapter quickly is also the fact that I had wrote the beginning of chapter two almost immediatly after I posted the first, but I had it on only and, for an unknown reason, it disappeared, so I wasn't too happy when I saw it. Usually, when I loose a text, either I write it again straightaway or I wait until I have the motivation to re-write what I lost ^^'

Anyway, I hope you'll enjoy this new chapter! =D As usual, if you see mistakes, please tell me but be tactful please ;)

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><p><span><strong>Chapter 2 :<strong>** An odd murder  
><strong>

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><p>Kogoro hurried through the huge automatic doors on the front side of the building, Conan following him closely but almost having to run to keep up with the sleuth's speed. They left so quickly that Conan didn't have enough time to even ask who died, and he soon realized during the ride in the rental car that Kogoro wasn't in mind to answer, which was both odd and disturbing. The old man didn't seem personally affected by the murder, which was still good news, but judging from the serious look on his face, the murdered person was probably someone important or something like that. It was the only explanation Conan could think of with the elements in his possession, which were really few right now. Hopefully, he should be able to learn more within seconds as soon as they'd had reached Megure.<p>

By chance, the portly inspector wasn't far from the entrance. Thanks to the large windows which were covering almost all the hall, Kogoro and Conan had been able to spot the police inspector just after getting out of the car.

Kogoro stopped a few meters from the inspector, his serious face still in place, which was a bit unusual. Well, the fact that Megure was asking his help was already rare, as they usually found themselves involved in cases even before a murder occurred, moreover Kogoro used to greet his former colleague with a smile and some joke while coming to him. Not here. He was more formal, more tense, and after a quick glance at the portly inspector, Conan saw that he saw equally tense. If anything, it confirmed that someone important must have died. Maybe the owner of this building or of the company using it, or a celebrity. The shrunken sleuth didn't see why they'd be so serious otherwise. It had to be a sensitive case.

Megure was about to greet the famous private eye when he noticed Conan. His presence didn't seem to please him too much.

"Why did you bring him?" he asked Kogoro with a disapproval voice.

"Well, I didn't want to, but this brat told me he got near that building earlier, so maybe he saw something interesting or useful. As you didn't tell me the time of death, I brought him, just in case," grumbled the old sleuth, not looking too happy about it either.

The inspector didn't really seem convinced. He reluctantly asked the child, "So, what time was it when you approached this building?"

"Around 4:00 PM. I was with the others, but we didn't stay long. Is that about the time of death?" he asked innocently, trying to soften the portly inspector who was still looking annoyed about him being there. He immediately changed his expression, his glare becoming suddenly aware after hearing what the shrunken teenager had just said.

"4:00 PM, you say?"

"Yes," confirmed Conan.

"What is it, keibu-san, is it the time of death?" inquired Kogoro.

"Well... the time of death isn't very precise, but yes, he likely was killed around that hour," revealed Megure.

"So, can you tell me what exactly happened?" requested Kogoro.

"To summarize, the victim is Miyazawa Takuto, the CEO of this company, owner of this building and a well-known, wealthy man. He was killed in his office, as I said around 4:00 PM, and discovered at 7:00 PM, by his secretary who came because he was late for a meeting. He's probably been tortured judging from his injuries, and we have an idea as to why. His company has experienced a lightning growth recently, due to the fall of his main rival company, and it made him very wealthy, so we can suppose that the murderer wanted to make him give the combination to his safe, which contained some of his fortune, especially since the painting hiding it has been put aside."

"The motive of the murder would be the lure of money, then? But wouldn't the culprit be caught on tape? A place like this must have a good security system," wondered Kogoro. Conan could only agree with him as he spotted a security camera.

"It does," replied Megure. "Tagaki-kun and Sato-kun watched the videos, but it didn't help to find the culprit. Too many people are working here, and some parts of the building aren't covered by the cameras because of building-maintenance which made them useless. Therefore, someone could have entered the building by the back and go to our victim's office without being caught by any camera."

"But someone would have noticed if a stranger was wandering in the building, wouldn't they?" added Kogoro.

"Not necessarily. As I said, a lot of people are working here, they don't know everyone else by sight. Anybody could come in, they'd just have to wear a suit to look like any other person here."

"So, you have a motive, but no suspect, am I right?" asked the old sleuth.

"That's it. We wouldn't have called you otherwise."

"Well, the last time you asked my help I can think of is when that Osakan brat and his friend were there, and you had three suspects at the time", Kogoro reminded him.

Conan remembered that case too, especially because of the bet around it, but it wasn't the moment to recall it. So, he concentrated on the information the portly inspector was giving them about the crime scene and even the victim's injuries, both men had obviously forgot Conan's presence, but not for long.

"Heeeey, Conan-kun!" a voice yelled through the hall. A voice that Conan recognized almost immediately, even though he didn't expect this person to be here.

The three of them turned to see Sera hurry toward them, a bright smile on her face. Oddly enough, she didn't come from the doors but from inside the building.

"What is this tomboy doing here?" mumbled Kogoro.

"She came here during the investigation. She said the victim had hired her, but she still hasn't told us why," replied Megure with a tone clearly saying he didn't like her silence too much.

Sera reached them and, as usual, did at first as if only Conan was there.

"I thought you'd manage to come!" she said, obviously happy about it. "Ready to go to the crime scene?"

"I'm not sure it's a good idea to show him the crime scene, the corpse is still there," said Megure. "By the way... Have you seen it already?"

"Sure I have" replied Sera, still smiling. "The victim was my client after all."

"Why did he hired you?" tried the inspector, but Sera had already turned back to Conan.

"So, are you coming?"

"Sure," answered Conan. He had enough information for now, looking at the crime scene was the better thing to do to move forward in this case right now, especially since Megure had almost finished when the teen came. He didn't need to play kiddie in front of the inspector, he knew him well enough not to be surprised that Conan would want to see the place.

"Wait, you don't need to bring him there," interrupted Kogoro. "If the culprit really entered the building by the back, then the brat can go home, he probably didn't witnessed anything useful."

"We're not sure yet", contradicted Megure. "However..."

Before he could finish his sentence, Conan and Sera were already heading towards the elevators, Sera asking Conan about his story about being a witness. Megure sighed and beckoned to Kogoro to follow them on the crime scene.

To be honest, Megure wasn't keen to have the child on the crime scene because of its gruesome aspects, the victim having been tortured after all, but, well... It's not like if he wasn't used to Conan getting into crime scenes, even if he or Kogoro or another policeman tried to prevent him from doing so. After all of the dead bodies Conan had seen, they didn't really fear he'd be traumatized or shocked by the sight of a corpse. Moreover, Megure just realized that Conan had stayed next to Kogoro the whole time he told the old cop about the victim's injuries, which, if they made the sleeping sleuth flinch slightly sometimes, didn't had any effect of this kind on the boy, or Megure would have noticed him listening. It only accentuated the impression of the inspector that this kid really was odd, but well, as long as Conan was helping them to solve cases without damaging evidences, he didn't see any reason to stop him, knowing the child was stubborn at clinging to a case anyway.

They quickly arrived at the crime scene, with was up in the floors, and entered an office near the elevator area. Straight after he entered the room, Conan looked around to understand what had happened here.

The victim was covered with blood. His own blood. He was tied up to his chair and had cuts all over this body. These wounds were meant to be painful, not lethal... At least at first. Some of the other injuries looked like they'd been done in rage. Same thing with the safe: though the canvas that was obviously covering it most of the time had been pushed aside cautiously, someone clearly tried to break it open at some point. There were marks almost everywhere on it, some of them light mostly around the lock but also others, deeper, which could be seen as much on the combination lock than on the edges of the safe. The deepest marks were equally spread everywhere, as if someone had just lost patience and tried to smash the door to get it open. Obviously, all those marks had been made by a metallic object, probably like a pipe or a crowbar, even if there wasn't any object like this in the room.

"So, what do you think, Mouri-kun?" asked Megure to the famous sleuth.

"Hum? Yeah, it's obviously a robbery that ended up in a murder," confirmed Kogoro.

"I wasn't talking about that, even if it's interesting to know you think it was a interrupted robbery too. I wanted to know if you could see any hint about the culprit here."

"Oh. Well, someone had used some kind of weapon on this safe, and by the look of the marks it left, I think it wasn't a small one. The culprit couldn't walk in this building without someone noticing he was carrying it, even if he hide it with a bag. Employees here usually just have a briefcase. He probably intended to break the safe open alone using some kind of crowbar, but the victim suddenly showed up, so the thief tied him up to force him into revealing his code."

"That's not at all you can tell," interrupted Sera with an assured smile. "Don't you think so, Conan-kun?"

The small sleuth nodded, wearing the same smile than his female counterpart as he answered without even thinking about it.

"It's not an interrupted robbery, it's a premeditated murder."

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><p>Well, I guess no one is really surprised by this revelation. =P But I have to go through this first to lead the story where I want it to go, 'cause yes, I have a more precise idea now.<p>

Dunno if I really wrote more than in the first chapter (without counting all my personal comments and author's notes, of course), but well, I hope so. I won't be able to suddenly write a chapter twice what I wrote before just with a click of the fingers, at least not right now, I think. ^^ But as my first chapters for another fanfic I write in French are about that long too and got longer step by step, I guess it's not hopeless ;) I'll probably get used to writing in English (and, hopefully, I'll stop checking or looking for a word every ten seconds on an online dictionary). I just hope words won't be so reluctant to come when writing the next chapter!

So, as you probably noticed, I can be pretty slow to update a new chapter. I'll write the next one as soon as possible, but I can't promise anything, so just believe me; be patient and leave reviews; it will help the next chapter get out faster. =D

Beta-reader of the chapter : dreamingfifi ^^


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